Two Quebec students with what is probably the most badass names recently won a small victory in Quebec Courts.

In Mofo Moko c. Ebay Canada Ltd. (French, but worth reading in its entirety), Plaintiffs are suing Ebay for loss of profit, or loss of opportunity, after Ebay’s untimely cancellation of their auction, which was nearing $50,000.

Plaintiffs filed their lawsuit in Montreal, which was promptly opposed by Ebay on the grounds that their user agreement specifies any litigation must be carried out in California.

The Court, however, points out that the User Agreement is 6 and a half pages when printed, written in a hardly understandable language.

The Agreement specifies that the law applicable to the contract is the law of Ontario and applicable Federal laws, meaning any lawsuit will have to be not only in California, but based on Canadian and Ontarian laws.

The Court concluded that the intention behind such a condition was to discourage lawsuits, and is excessive, unreasonable, and abusive, and, when found in a “contrat d’adhésion”, is null and void.

The present ruling only concerns Ebay’s Motion to Dismiss, which they lost. It will be interesting to see if the main suit ever gets carried to term.